E-auctions & E-procurement
Online auctions can be extremely cost effective, and give you a much better working knowledge of current and potential suppliers, as well as the market for a particular commodity you may be purchasing. For a more detailed explanation of how they work see here.
Getting started with online auctions:
Reverse auctions or electronic tendering work by inviting suppliers to attend your auction online and bid to supply against a given specification. You name the date and time of the auction (usually no more than a couple of hours), and can watch your suppliers compete on price. Like eBay, prices are posted up for all to see as they are submitted but suppliers names are coded so only you know who they are.
You can buy the software to do this, or maybe your market sector already has a market place you can join. We have sourced via auction a huge range of products on behalf of clients achieving savings of up to 40%.
Online ordering, or E-procurement:
This is often the easiest and quickest way to reduce ordering costs whist achieving compliance with your corporate deals. There are many different electronic purchasing systems that provide end to end ordering system over the web, operating in most major business sectors. For a more detailed explanation of how they work see here.
For help in choosing what is right for you contact: info@horizon-associates.com It is vital that your suppliers understand e-Commerce and reverse auctions. This is why we also organise training for suppliers and sales forces. See here for details.
